@dalevictor -- The publishing industry has gone through considerable upheaval in the past half century. Today you can get published the "traditional" way with established brick and mortar houses or with independent publishers ( Indie ). One might go the vanity publishing route and even that has a range. Finally, there is the self publishing angle and there too are a number of possibilities.

Whichever you pursue, there are three important things to remember.

1. Find at least one beta reader, not a friend or relative, to get feedback on readability. They will also find errors, discontinuities, and so forth. They are not editors and should not engage in that sort of work any further than the obvious typos.

2. Find an editor. There are many and their prices are intimidating. Some, like myself, are willing to take on certain works on a shared risk basis. That is, they are willing to forgo a portion of their fee that will be charged out as a percentage of royalties until the whole fee is paid. There are several different types of editor and the feedback from your beta reader (many do this service without charge, but don't expect it) will be a strong indication of what level of editing you need. Brick and mortar houses (Tor, Baen, etc.) used to do the required editing at no charge as a part of the book deal. Few of them continue to do so, but many do not. Whatever the case, you will need an editor. I am a freelance editor. That is not an advertisement, just information. Whatever path you follow, editing is the key to getting a ms as clean as it needs to be to submit.

3. Be patient but persistent. I come from a time when we used typewriters and paper. We would bundle our perfect ms in a sturdy box, wrap it in heavy packaging paper, pay the postage and include return postage, then wait for anywhere from 3 months to a year before getting the initial response. That could be an offer, but more often than not it was the ms returned with a rejection slip or letter. If the latter, we would repeat the process. Waits for traditional publishers hasn't changed much, but where they accept electronic submissions the time has shrunk considerably.

If you give me more specifics, I can be more specific.

first of all you need a proof reader -- someone to read the material for grammar, spelling and logical thought. from 55 years as a member of the working press, i assure you that we don't always say what we mean.

what do you plan to publish? just a hint, please

google it. you'll find pro help

I am sure somethings you could pay for their services and get more "professional " results.

You can self publish the way I did. It is just a different company now owned by amazon.

[kdp.amazon.com]